I couldn't agree more. Coaches won't sit by and watch another take an unfair advantage. The NCAA and SEC know it too, and they will nip this in the bud.
Rob Sent from my Windows Phone -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 3:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] Recruiter at Tennessee Scrutinized by the SEC I agree. My point was - if the NCAA and SEC don't do something about this - then all the schools and coaches will start doing it (ignoring all secondary violations). Then all hell breaks loose. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] Recruiter at Tennessee Scrutinized by the SEC From: "Rob Alexander" <[email protected]> Date: Mon, December 14, 2009 2:46 pm To: <[email protected]> This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in recruiting in a long time. Rubio is flown to his old high school with Kiffin, who is on a recruiting trip, but Rubio wasn’t recruiting? Of course he was recruiting. Even if he didn’t talk to one single recruit (which I don’t believe for a second), his presence with Kiffin was in and of itself recruiting. Besides, there’s no way this one isn’t a problem from some angle. Either he was recruiting, and the NCAA needs to get involved, or UT used taxpayer money to pay for a personal trip for Rubio, and the Tennessee state attorney needs to get involved. You can’t have it both ways. And the Vol tramp squad? How can that not be a violation? They are official representatives of the University. Does anyone with an IQ over 60 (i.e. not a Vol football player) really believe that these hot college girls really drove 200 miles just to watch a couple of high school kids play football because that’s how they wanted to spend their Friday night? Give me a break! I’ve never seen a coach publicly flaunt the rules the way Kiffin does. Most cheaters at least have the courtesy to try to keep it secret. There needs to be a rule that some number of blatant minor violations in a short period of time equals a major violation. Rob From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 11:19 AM To: gatortalk googlegroups Subject: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] Recruiter at Tennessee Scrutinized by the SEC All heck is about to break loose IF the NCAA and SEC don't start taking secondary recruiting violations seriously. Why should all the teams - except Tennessee - follow the rules if Tennessee is going to go around and flaunt the fact that they do not intend to follow the rules. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gatornews] Recruiter at Tennessee Scrutinized by the SEC From: John Vega <[email protected]> Date: Mon, December 14, 2009 11:06 am To: GatorNews <[email protected]> December 12, 2009 Recruiter at Tennessee Scrutinized by the SEC By PETE THAMEL The Southeastern Conference is examining a new issue involving Tennessee’s football recruiting, Mike Hamilton, the university’s athletic director, said Friday. Hamilton said in a telephone interview that the SEC was looking into the actions of a Tennessee recruiting intern, Steve Rubio, who flew to South Florida with Coach Lane Kiffin recently and visited the athletic powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. Under N.C.A.A. rules, Rubio, who graduated from Aquinas and volunteered there, is not allowed to recruit off the Tennessee campus. Hamilton said the concern was whether Rubio did recruiting work and contacted players while he was at the high school. Hamilton said it was his understanding that Rubio did not recruit at the high school. Hamilton said Tennessee had given the SEC all the information the conference has requested. Whether to forward the matter to the N.C.A.A., Hamilton said, was “for someone else to make that determination.” News of the latest recruiting problem came on a day when SI.com published a photograph of two Tennessee recruits, Brandon Willis and Corey Miller of James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., with two hostesses from Tennessee’s Orange Pride group. Also on Friday, a summer basketball coach from Memphis called the Tennessee recruiting hostess program the most “orchestrated and aggressive” he had seen in 28 years on the recruiting circuit. The SI.com photo confirmed the presence of the hostesses at a high school game and illustrated their purpose in attending it. They held a sign that read, “Miller and Willis Have Our Hearts.” Gary Willis, Brandon’s father, said on Tuesday that his son had had no contact with the hostesses, although running back Marcus Lattimore, who also plays at Byrnes, said in an interview that the players had been expecting the hostesses. As the N.C.A.A. examines the matter, it is likely to focus on whether it can prove that the Tennessee coaching staff sent the hostesses to the high school specifically to recruit. While their presence would most likely be considered a violation, its severity would probably be determined by the extent of the coaches’ knowledge. “I don’t want to talk about that,” Gary Willis said on Friday. “Let the N.C.A.A. do what they’re going to do.” The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the recruiting hostesses traveled nearly 200 miles to attend the game played by Willis, Miller and Lattimore. The N.C.A.A. is examining Tennessee’s hostess program in a review that has covered at least six prospects, including Miller, Willis and Lattimore. Tennessee has yet to receive a formal letter of inquiry from the N.C.A.A. “I’m not at liberty to talk about the issue of Orange Pride,” Hamilton said Friday night. Kiffin declined to comment through a university spokesman. Also on Friday, Keith Easterwood, a veteran summer basketball coach, said that on a visit last year with his son, a football recruit, he had to ask a hostess to stop brushing her breasts against both him and his son. He recalled saying, “Young lady, if you don’t stop doing that, we’ve got a problem.” Easterwood said that he took a group of basketball players to a Western Kentucky football game at Tennessee this year, and that the presence of the hostesses had his players “literally reduced to blubbering idiots.” “I’ve been up there five times, four for football and one basketball visit,” Easterwood said. “My observation is that this is a very organized operation. These girls have obviously been groomed. There’s a lot of eye contact and touching.” The inquiries are creating problems for Tennessee, but Hamilton said that was part of having a successful yet controversial coach like Kiffin. “It’s like any situation as an institution — you’re always concerned about an institution’s public relations and integrity,” he said. “We’re always evaluating those things.” Thayer Evans contributed reporting. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
